Portico Prime @ Dempsey

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I used to frequent Portico pretty often and along the way was tempted to pay Prime Society a visit - until Portico Prime finally replaced Prime Society at its current location. Inspite of the latest food fads and IT dining locations, Dempsey still remains one of my top places for a night out.

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The menu did not look too different from its Alexandra outlet, except this outlet exudes a more casual vibe - something about tall ceilings.

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Our complimentary bread platter included foccacia and chocolate croissant served with thyme and salted butter. A rather odd combination but saying no to freshly baked bread is against the table ettiquette rules - loved the crusty foccacia roll and thyme butter, the chocolate croissant was rather ordinary.

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Signature Truffle Fries, Shaved Gruyere Cheese ($15)

These have been signature for the longest time, from the most indulgent with truffle shavings to more ordinary truffle scented cheese fries like the one above. A pity these arrived lukewarm and took away most of the satisfaction of nibbling on piping hot and melted cheesy fries. 

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Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Garden Herbs ($15)
Sauteed Seasonal Market Vegetables ($12)

These were tasty enough for the mains that we ordered.

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Fish Skin with Spicy Pork Floss and Curry Dust ($10)

I was thankful there was none of the fad-ish salted egg yolk fish skin. These crunchy nibbles and pork floss was the ultimate bar snack, so addictive! 

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Chilled Truffle-Scented Angel Hair Pasta ($30)
Avruga cavair, kawa ebi shrimps, dehydrated konbu shio

While some may scoff at truffle oil, I am unfortunately still a huge fan of anything truffle infused - and throw in a chilled angel hair pasta, this is already a winner. Tasty and flavourful noodle toss up with the right balance of ebi shrimps and konbu shio.

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180G Wagyu Beef, Portobello and Cheese Burger ($32)
"Polo-style" burger bun, portobello mushrooms, sunny side up, emmental and cheddar cheese, sweet potato fries

I'd advise dirtying your hands and diving straight into the burger - lots to love on the board right to the fries which actually tasted alot better than my lukewarm truffle fries.

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Pan-Seared Barramundi ($30)
Roasted Ratte potatoes with semi-dried tomato, carrot ginger puree, trout roe beurre blanc sauce

The mud taste was rather apparent for the barramundi though it was cleverly masked by the trout roe beurre blanc sauce. 

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Locally Farmed Chicken Done Two Ways ($35)
Confit of chicken, roulade with foie gras, maple-scented sweet potato puree, braised purple cabbage, spiced chicken jus

The least popular amongst the three mains, the confit of chicken was alot better than roulade with foie gras. Otherwise, another pretty presentation.

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Homemade Carrot Cake ($14)
Cream cheese frosting, maple Greek yoghurt, orange ginger marmalade, multigrain crumbs

Trust the carrot cake to be a show stopper inspite of its ordinary joe name. The dense carrot cake with the tart greek yogurt and piquant orange ginger marmalade made this a lipsmacking delight.

The night ended on a joyous note, our bellies filled and beautiful memories evoked. See you really soon, Portico Prime.

Portico Prime
Dempsey

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